


Good things come in threes

by literallymetaphoric



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mild Smut, Multi, Oblivious Zuko (Avatar), POV Zuko (Avatar), Past Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Suki & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:02:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26556304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literallymetaphoric/pseuds/literallymetaphoric
Summary: “Do you like Sokka?”“What kind of question is that?” The rising warmth in Zuko’s cheeks was from the alcohol. That was all. He took another sip, hiding behind the glass.Suki’s smirk grew.“I mean, obviously youlikehim.” She finished her drink, placing the empty glass clumsily on the table beside her. “I suppose the better question is: are youattractedto him?”or: after a little whisky, Suki gets Zuko and Sokka to admit their feelings for each other.
Relationships: Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Suki/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 260
Collections: A:tla





	Good things come in threes

**Author's Note:**

> So I sat down to write Suki/Sokka/Zuko smut... and this happened instead.

Suki’s eyebrows furrowed in a faux scowl as Sokka unceremoniously lifted her legs off his lap. She was sprawled across a plush, red lounge in Zuko’s receiving chambers, previously draped over Sokka, while Zuko sat on the floor across from her. His body was a tense line, but his shoulders curled slightly forward. For Zuko, he was practically _slumped_. 

Zuko hated the lavish furnishings of his rooms. He sighed, his mind wandering to the worn wood stools at the Jasmine Dragon with his uncle sitting across from him imparting some wisdom Zuko only had half a mind to understand. It wasn’t _fair_. He was the Fire Lord. He should be able to go wherever he wanted…

Both Suki and Zuko’s heads turned to follow Sokka as he pulled open the ornate carved door separating his personal chambers from the hall. Their supply of whisky, in Sokka’s opinion, was drawing dangerously low. “I’ll be back faster than you can say ‘your scar’s on the wrong side’,” Sokka announced, winking as he disappeared down the hall.

“ _On the wrong side_ ,” Zuko mumbled angrily under his breath. He didn’t notice the corners of Suki’s mouth quirk upwards as the heavy door creaked to a close. She turned her smirk towards him as soon as the door latched shut. 

“I have a question for you.”

“What?” Zuko bit, still steaming over that _stupid_ play and that _stupid_ child. He cringed at his own tone; how hard was it to not sound like a raging asshole all the time? Extremely, apparently. At least for Zuko.

Suki chuckled, taking a slow sip from her glass. The scowl faded from Zuko’s features. Finally, she asked, “Do you like Sokka?” 

“What kind of question is that?” The rising warmth in Zuko’s cheeks was from the alcohol. That was all. He took another sip, hiding behind the glass.

Suki’s smirk grew.

“I mean, obviously you _like_ him.” She finished her drink, placing the empty glass clumsily on the baroque table beside her. “I suppose the better question is: are you _attracted_ to him?”

The warmth that spread up Zuko's cheeks was definitely not from the alcohol. He plastered his best _I’m the Fire Lord_ scowl on his face, which was strikingly similar to his teenage _I have to regain my honor face_ , which was strikingly similar to his childhood _I’m not a disappointment, Dad. See?_ face. 

He’d learned young how to school his features into an impassive wall. Usually, he was good at it. 

However, he was entirely incapable of maintaining the facade with his friends. 

Suki, still sprawled across the lounge in a very Sokka-esque fashion, rested her head in her palm. She nodded solemnly, the growing smirk on her lips entirely ruining the effect. 

“He’s – well. It’s not like I’ve ever – I’ve _looked_ , you have to look, but I’ve never _thought_ …” Zuko took another sip. “Ty Lee thought so. _Yue_ thought so, and she’s, well she was a – but now she’s the –” He gestured wildly, the liquor sloshing out onto the floor. “Everyone who meets him falls a little bit in love with him. Not that _I’m_ – I mean _you_ love him, and you're – well you’re –” Zuko finished his drink. Was it possible for hands to blush? Even his _hands_ were blushing. 

Suki laughed, saving Zuko from himself. “Are you calling me attractive?” 

“I didn’t mean to.” Zuko couldn’t possibly get any redder than he already was, yet the increasing heat in his cheeks indicated otherwise. 

“I’ll take it as a compliment anyway.” Suki laughed again. She raked a finger down the velvet fabric of the lounge, looking up at Zuko through her eyelashes. “You didn’t answer my question.” 

Zuko huffed. “Anyone with eyes can see that he’s, well, that he’s...” Zuko fiddled with his empty glass, “you know.” 

“I don’t think I do.” 

Zuko scowled. 

“Come on, Zuko,” Suki teased. 

Zuko shook his head like a petulant child. 

“I want to hear you say it.” She barely raised her voice, but it dripped tantalizingly; the command was evident. 

Zuko swallowed. This was, most definitely, a trap. Asking about _Sokka_ , and then – and then – He urged his mind not to wander too far down _that_ path. They’d been drinking, it was no more than that. She wouldn’t – she couldn’t be – she wasn’t – 

It was hard to convince himself she wasn’t _flirting_ when she was looking at him like that. Her eyes were wide and inquisitive, her bottom lip jutting out in a plump little pout. He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, admitting to just _how_ unbelievably attractive he found her boyfriend was unlikely to end well for him. His eyes locked on hers and she bit her lower lip, eyebrows arched; it seemed like she really did want to hear it. Who was _he_ to deny _her_ \- 

“Of course I do,” Zuko nearly shouted, just as Sokka came bursting through the doors. 

“For some reason Shoji wouldn’t tell me where the whisky was. As if _I_ , the great and mighty Sokka, can’t handle my liquor! That’s not even what I’m the angriest about! Do you want to hear what I’m the angriest about? Nobody thought to tell me you have an _entire cellar_ of wine under this place. I’ve never seen that much wine in my _life_ , I – er, did I interrupt something?” 

Zuko had stumbled up to his feet, falling back onto the lounge. His eyes were wide as he looked anxiously at Suki, whose hand was clasped over her mouth to muffle her laughter. Zuko’s panicked expression quickly morphed into a frown. 

It had _definitely_ been a trap. 

“I can come back if you two need some… _privacy_. That wine cellar is calling my name...” Sokka joked, sauntering into the room. 

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Suki replied. Zuko’s eyes pleaded with her to _Not. Say. Anything._ Her smile was… warm. Amused, sure. But she wasn’t looking at Zuko like he was the butt of a joke. Actually, she still looked _flirty_. That… Well, that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. She waited for the door to latch again, then said, “We were actually just talking about you.” 

Zuko slumped down the lounge back onto the floor, groaning. This was it. He was going to lose his best friends in the world, the head of his guard and the greatest political mind of their age, not to mention the man he’d been ogling since he was 17, and his title in one fell swoop. If the nobles caught wind of his… _inclinations_ , he would be off the throne in a week. Everything he’d worked for, his _destiny_ , gone. Over. Done with. 

All because he couldn’t keep his stupid mouth shut. 

“Me?” Sokka grinned, completely unaware that Zuko’s life was falling apart around him. He deposited one of the bottles he was carrying onto the lounge beside Suki, pulling his latest invention from his pocket. He’d called it the ‘Southern Water Tribe Warrior Knife’, which both Zuko and Suki agreed was far too much of a mouthful to be that undescriptive. It was much more than just a knife, as Sokka had enthusiastically explained earlier that day. He clicked open one of its many tools, holding it out for Suki and Zuko to see. Zuko kept one eye shut, squinting the other to look at Sokka’s device. “It even has a _decorker_! Never again will you struggle to open your wine with a wall and an old boot –” 

“It’s called a _corkscrew_ , and if you didn’t notice, we’re in a palace. I’m pretty sure they have _corkscrews_.” 

“Believe you me, little prince, one day you’ll wish you had a Southern Water Tribe Warriors Knife in your pocket. Just you wait!” 

Sokka easily popped the cork out of the bottle, but struggled to dislodge the cork from the device. After a moment he gave up, returning it to his pocket cork and all. “I’m still – er – working out the kinks…” 

Suki sat up, holding her glass out impatiently. He filled it with a bow, and she plucked his own glass from the table to be filled. Suki handed it to him with a flourish and he turned to Zuko, kneeling in front of him. 

Zuko just stared at Sokka. Maybe he’d forgotten, maybe his life wasn’t over... 

“Don’t tell me you’re tapping out on us already?” Sokka chided, poking Zuko’s leg. 

“And let some water peasant outdrink me? I don’t think so.” 

Sokka grinned. “That’s _Ambassador_ water peasant to you, jerkbender.” 

Sokka filled Zuko glass, sliding in next to him against the lounge. “Now,” Sokka rubbed his hands together, “tell me what it is you were so flustered about when I came in here.” 

Zuko groaned. This was it. Maybe he could set something on fire, maybe he could set _himself_ on fire... 

Suki chuckled. “I think you should tell him, Zuko.” 

Zuko shook his head, frowning. 

“Come on, Zuko,” Sokka encouraged. “Share with the class.” 

“No.” 

“You’re _killing_ me. Please, please, please –” Sokka begged, leaning into Zuko and pouting up at him with those brilliant blue eyes, his bottom lip pushed out comically, his skin flushed from the alcohol – 

Okay. So maybe Zuko _was_ a little in love with Sokka. That didn’t mean he had to tell him. 

“I’m drunk,” Zuko said. 

“Not _that_ drunk.” 

“She tricked me, I didn’t –” 

“Suki,” Sokka pretended to chastise. “You know how easily manipulated he is.” 

“I am _not_ easily manipulated!” 

“So you meant what you said then?” 

“That’s not what I meant –” 

“The mystery is _killing_ me. Zuko –” 

“I think you should tell him, it’s only fair.” 

“You’re hot!” 

“Er, what?” Sokka asked, his face still pressed close to Zuko’s. 

“You heard me,” Zuko huffed, his eyes dropping to the floor. “Can we drop it now?” 

“We most certainly cannot,” Suki said, draping her arm over the back of the lounge and sipping from her wine. 

Sokka’s eyes were wide. Zuko didn’t breathe. 

After a second much too long for Zuko’s comfort, Sokka’s mouth pulled into a cocky grin. 

“You hear that, baby?” Sokka turned towards Suki. Zuko _did not_ immediately lean into Sokka, wishing his eyes were back on him, his breath, his undivided attention...“The Fire Lord himself has a crush on me. I am _such_ a catch.” 

Suki threw a pillow at Sokka. 

“Hey! The wine!” 

“Don’t get so cocky, I think you have something to tell him, too.” 

Sokka grinned around his glass, taking a long sip. Zuko willed himself to breathe, to act normal, to drink his wine as if everything was normal, everything was fine, he did not just admit to the crush he’d been harboring since… since… 

Longer than he’d like to admit. Much longer than he’d been acknowledging it, that was for sure. 

Sokka waggled his eyebrows at Suki. “Do I?” 

“Oh, you definitely do.” 

Zuko’s eyes darted between the two of them. They didn’t… hate him? Suki looked smug, but entirely at ease. Sokka’s grin was almost _bashful_. They seemed – well, they seemed... 

Zuko had to be reading the situation wrong. 

“Do you remember that night,” Sokka began, resting his back against the lounge. He was so _close_. Zuko had expected him to put as much distance as he could between them after his little confession, but there he was, _centimeters_ away. “It was after we’d gotten back from the Boiling Rock. Remember how you barged into my tent and interrogated me about Katara?” 

“Yes.” Zuko remembered alright. He remembered bumping into Suki on his way there, he remembered the roses, the candles, _Sokka_ splayed out like… Well. He also remembered thinking Suki wanted to talk to Sokka about something, that Sokka was waiting for her. To _talk_ to her. He hadn’t realized they’d had other plans until... until he spent the night outside of Katara’s tent listening to them... Well. 

“Look at you blush,” Suki purred. “Don’t worry Zuko, try as you might you didn’t manage to dampen the mood.” 

“I can compartmentalize like a champ!” Sokka raised a fist in triumph, both him and Suki laughing. 

“I know,” Zuko said. 

“What?” Sokka lowered his fist, casting his gaze at Zuko. 

“You weren’t very quiet,” Zuko said. 

“ _Spirits_ , Zuko!” Sokka sputtered. “Did you listen to me lose my virginity?” 

“It was your first time?” 

“Of course it was!” 

“That explains the, uh –” 

“I’ve gotten better! I’m a sex god now. Tell him, Suki.” 

“Mmm,” Suki agreed. 

“See?” 

Zuko’s cheeks burned. “I did not need to know that.” 

“I disagree,” Suki said. 

Their cups had emptied, and Suki stood to refill them. 

“Go on, Sokka,” Suki encouraged silkily. She settled herself on the floor across from them, her back against the opposite lounge. 

“Well, before you started asking about my dead mother –” Sokka continued. 

Zuko cringed. 

“I thought, well, _I_ didn’t think. Certain _parts_ of me thought that maybe you’d come to my tent for another reason, and they weren’t opposed.” 

“You thought I wanted to have sex with you?” 

“You barged into my tent! And then you just stared at me for a solid ten minutes –” 

“It was not that long!” 

“– with your jaw on the ground! When I asked what you wanted, well, I didn’t expect you to say _your sister_. Believe me, I was relieved. But the idea got sort of lodged in my mind and…” 

Zuko blinked. If Sokka was saying what he thought he was saying… 

He took another sip of his wine. 

“That’s the night I realized. It took me a bit longer to, er, come to terms with it, let's say. But that was the night.” 

“Come to terms with it?” Suki laughed. “It was a bit more dramatic than that.” 

“Are you calling me _dramatic_?” Sokka raised a hand to his chest, mock offended. 

“Yes,” Zuko and Suki replied in unison, making both of them laugh. 

Sokka raised his eyebrows at Zuko. “You’re one to talk,” he said. 

“Shut up.” 

“He cried when he told me,” Suki teased. 

“Manly tears! Very, very manly tears!” 

“Of course they were, baby.” 

“And you – he –” Zuko paused, raising his glass to his lips. “You were able to talk to each other about… _that_?” 

“My raging hard-on for you? Yeah, we talked about it.” 

Zuko sputtered, choking on his wine. 

Sokka clapped him on the back, laughing. 

Once he recovered, Suki said, “We still do.” 

“At length,” Sokka added. 

“You do?” Zuko asked, flicking his gaze between the two of them. 

Suki nodded. “Tell him what you said to me, baby.” 

Sokka cleared his throat. “Well, given that you two are such good friends and all, now – which I love by the way. I think it’s great that you’ve found each other and –” 

“Sokka, the point?” 

“Right. I asked Suki how she’d feel about a threesome. With you.” 

Zuko’s brain short-circuited. 

“We’d talked about it before, a three-way, but we never found the right person. Then I went back to the South, and we sort of dropped it. Well, until Suki reminded me...” Sokka's eyes strayed to her. Zuko had the wherewithal to follow his gaze, and the look on Suki’s face sent a fresh blush down Zuko’s cheeks. He had never, in his entire life, been looked at like that. Not when he was with Mai, not with Jin when he’d been hiding in Ba Sing Se, never. 

He swallowed. 

Suki nodded for Sokka to continue, running her tongue along her lip. Sokka turned back to Zuko, and if it had been possible to melt under both their eyes he would have. 

“Suki mentioned you and Mai had broken up, and I couldn’t get you out of my head. That crush I mentioned? Yeah, it didn’t go away. While I was helping build the city I –well I kept thinking about how I’d like to show you certain things, take you places – Suki, too. Of course, Suki.” Sokka’s eyes were so full of love when he looked at her, and then he turned that gaze on Zuko. 

Zuko simultaneously thought he did not deserve to be looked at like that _at all_ and so fucking cherished it hurt. 

“The elders, they’re all pretty old school. But my dad, well, my dad and Bato sort of, you know. A lot of the soldiers did. A lot of the women back home, too. Things are changing, and with Suki’s help with the initial panic –” 

Sokka reached out tentatively, hovering over Zuko’s hand. Zuko turned his palm up, and Sokka clasped it. He stroked rough, calloused fingers over Zuko’s. 

“What was I saying?” Sokka asked. 

“Sokka asked me to wait to bring it up until he was here for the summit. And I did, and here we are.” Suki finished. 

“Are you saying there are letters floating around of you two discussing bedding me?” Zuko’s Fire Lord voice came out. 

“ _Bedding_ ,” Sokka giggled. 

“Don’t fret my lord,” Suki said, sitting up to mime a bow. Zuko rolled his eyes. “We never said your name. No one could deduce it was you.” 

“Except maybe Toph. Toph definitely could.” 

“Good thing she can’t read,” Zuko said. 

“Right! I always forget that.” 

“Ask him, Sokka.” 

Sokka stroked a finger across Zuko’s knuckle. 

“What do you say, jerkbender? Wanna tousle in the sheets with me and my girl?” 

Suki rolled her eyes. 

Zuko looked between them like he couldn’t quite believe what was happening. Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was something else, but Zuko leaned into Sokka – 

And Sokka leaned back. 

The tension in Zuko’s posture eased away as Sokka raised a palm to cup his jaw, tilting his face upwards. He held him there, gaze focused on Zuko’s lips. 

“I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” Sokka breathed. 

Zuko pressed forward, trying to capture Sokka’s lips. Sokka tightened his hold on Zuko’s jaw, holding him just out of reach. Their eyes met; Zuko hadn’t known that blue eyes could _burn_ like that, like flames erupting out of Sokka’s irises. An animalistic sound rose from Sokka’s throat, making Zuko’s toes curl, before he released Zuko’s jaw. 

Zuko whimpered into Sokka’s mouth. His lips were soft, so soft, but rough, demanding. Zuko thought he could die right there and he’d be happy. 

Suki practically keened from where she must have been watching them. Sokka pulled back, his pupils blown. He held Zuko’s gaze for a moment, lips glistening, before turning to look at Suki. 

It was almost painful to tear his eyes from Sokka, but when Zuko looked over to Suki it was worth it. She was staring at them hungrily, making a lick of flame spread up Zuko’s spine. 

“Suki likes to watch,” Sokka whispered into Zuko’s ear, and he shuddered. 

“And Sokka likes to put on a show,” Suki rasped. 

“What do you like, Zuko?” 

His entire relationship with Mai flashed through his head, and his cheeks went red. 

“Can we open that last bottle now?” Zuko asked. 

Suki laughed, passing it to him. “There’s just one rule,” she said. 

“She also likes to be in charge,” Sokka added. 

“Because I am in charge.” 

“Yeah, you are.” Sokka grinned. 

“Clothes stay on, just for tonight.” 

Sokka whined, his eyes raking over Zuko’s body. Zuko’s gut clenched. 

“Just for tonight,” Zuko said. 

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, the Avatar renaissance is the best thing that could've come out of this whole global pandemic thing.
> 
> I pinky promise I have so much more of these three in my head (the angst! the sMUT), but it'll probably stay there. Maybe let me know if you think it shouldn't? 
> 
> As always, all the love to the best beta in the world HazelHolly <3 thanks for spending a stupid amount of time googling Swiss Army Knives and procrastinating school work with me


End file.
